A little more than one month ago, Greg Bird returned to the Yankees after having his second ankle surgery in as many years. Tyler Austin and Neil Walker did okay enough at first base in the interim. Although the Yankees weren’t having trouble scoring runs without him, adding Bird’s lefty power bat to the righty heavy lineup really helps balance things out.

Twenty games into his 2018 season, Bird is hitting .211/.300/.451 (104 wRC+) overall with three home runs, and things have been much better of late. Including the completion of the suspended game, he’s gone 6-for-20 (.300) with three doubles, a homer, five walks, and four strikeouts in the last seven days. Not surprisingly, Bird needed some time to get settled in following ankle surgery. He’s on the path to being dangerous now.

“I’m happy where I’m at right now, but there’s room to get better for sure. Get better, stay the course and turn this thing around,” said Bird to Zach Braziller over the weekend. “I try to figure it out all the time. It’s just the ups and downs. You want to be consistent in this game. I just feel like when you’re coming back like that, there’s more obstacles.”

One thing Bird has not done early in his 2018 season is hit fastballs. He’s hitting .162 with a .189 ISO against heaters so far, whereas the league averages are .265 and .177, respectively. He’s also posted a .301 expected wOBA against fastballs this year. The league average is .365. The results aren’t particularly good because the contact hasn’t been particularly good.

Furthermore, Bird has missed with 20.9% of his swings at fastballs so far this season. The league average is 19.3%. Given what we’ve seen from Bird the last few years, I don’t think it’ll surprise you to learn that most of his whiffs against heaters have come on pitches up in the zone. Here are the pitch locations of his whiffs on fastballs (colored by pitch velocity):

As soon as he got to the big leagues in 2015, pitchers started attacking Bird with elevated fastballs. Teams scout the minor leagues like crazy these days. When a kid comes up, they already have a book on him, and those elevated heaters are Bird’s weakness. Is it something he can correct? Possibly. Elevated fastballs are hard to hit, especially when behind in the count.

Anyway, Bird has not hit fastballs in the early going and the swings and misses concern me more than the low AVG and ISO, especially since so many of those swings and misses in the plot above are 92-94 mph. A 92-94 mph heater over the plate is a pitch I want Bird to hammer. We know Bird, when he’s healthy and right at the plate, can murder fastballs. Quality fastballs too. Need I remind you?

?

Bird can hit fastballs. He just hasn’t since coming back from the disabled list. There’s a big difference between not being able to do something and not doing something at this moment. Bird is not hitting fastballs at this point in time. It doesn’t mean he won’t hit fastballs forever.

The question is why isn’t Bird hitting fastballs right now? I’m inclined to say this is all small sample size noise. Not just small sample size noise, but small sample size noise from a dude who recently returned from ankle surgery. Simply put, Bird is not yet in midseason form. Ankle surgery is not nothing — if you don’t have a solid base underneath you, you’re not going to hit properly — and he’s just coming back from (another) one.

You’re welcome to feel differently, but I think we’re very far away from saying Bird has a problem with fastballs. Is he susceptible to elevated fastballs? Yes. Lots of hitters are. But do those swings and misses at 92-94 mph heaters out over the plate point to a larger problem? It’s always possible, sure. We need more information though. No one ever likes to hear this, but the best thing the Yankees can do is be patient. Give Bird time and let him figure it out.

Verlander spun another gem, and in two starts against the Yankees this year, has a 0.61 ERA with 19 strikeouts and no walks. With this being the final series between the two clubs during the regular season, Verlander became the first pitcher — since earned runs became official in 1913 — to strike out at least 15 batters, walk none and post a sub-1.00 ERA in a single season against the Yankees.

One of the guys that Verlander handcuffed was Aaron Judge. After going 0-for-3 in their latest matchup, he remains hitless in 13 at-bats against Verlander with more than half (7) of those outs via strikeout. The 13 at-bats are his most versus any pitcher he doesn’t have a hit off in his career.

Domingo German flashed electric stuff but also suffered from inconsistent command. His final line was a mixed bag with three earned runs (plus an unearned run) allowed on five hits, including a homer, and seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

The good? He was excellent in missing bats and getting hitters to chase his pitches. He matched a career-high with 16 whiffs, and 11 of them came on pitches out of the zone. The only other guys this season to get that many out-of-zone swings-and-misses (11) in a game against the Astros were Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber. Pretty good company for the rookie!

All seven of his strikeouts were swinging, including two each to the best Astros hitters in the lineup — Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve. Here’s German making Correa look silly in the first inning:

The lone offensive highlight for the Yankees was Greg Bird taking Justin Verlander deep in the seventh inning. It was the first homer that Verlander allowed to a left-handed batter all season; the 120 lefty swingers he had faced entering the week were the second-most of any pitcher in baseball this season who hadn’t yet allowed a home run to a lefty.

(New York Post)

Happy Gleyber Day
After a relatively quiet few days in the Bronx, wild and wacky baseball returned with a bang on Tuesday night, as the Yankees staged yet another epic comeback en route a 6-5 extra-inning win over the defending AL champs.

It was the Yankees AL-leading fifth walk-off win of the season, and also matched their entire total from last year. The only other time in the last 50 seasons that they compiled five-or-more walk-off wins within their first 52 games played was 2009.

But this wasn’t just any ordinary walk-off celebration, it required a two-run rally in the ninth inning, which has almost become the norm for this Yankee team. It was their …

MLB-best fifth win when trailing at start of the ninth inning (same number as last year)

MLB-best third win when trailing by multiple runs at start of the ninth (one more than last year)

10th one-run win of the season, more than halfway to last year’s total (18)

Sure the Yankees have been piling up these Fighting Spirit-fueled wins, but this one was perhaps the most improbable. The Yankees committed five errors — their most in a win in more than two decades (April 17, 1997 vs White Sox) — and also struck out a whopping 17 times. They are the first team since at least 1908 (and probably ever) to win a game despite making five or more errors and striking out at least 17 times. Congrats?

Trailing 5-2 at the halfway point, the Yankees used their traditional power bats to save the game and then added a dose of Baby Bomber situational hitting to win it. Aaron Judge started the comeback with a 109.1 mph rocket into the second deck in right leading off the fifth inning. It was his fifth opposite-field homer of the season, and fourth with an exit velocity of at least 108 mph — that’s twice as many as anyone else through Tuesday.

(AP)

Brett Gardner made sure we’d enjoy free baseball with a thrilling two-run game-tying homer in the ninth inning. It was his second home run of the game, after he led off the night with a solo homer in the bottom of the first. That statistical combo gave us our Guest Yankeemetric of the Series, courtesy of stats maven Doug Kern: Gardner is the second Yankee ever to lead off the game with a home run and then hit game-tying or go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later, joining Snuffy Stirnweiss on August 27, 1947 against the St. Louis Browns.

*PA in 7th or later with batting team tied, ahead by one, or tying run on deck

PA

Torres

League Avg

RISP

37

1.260

.732

High Leverage

28

1.519

.717

Tie Game

25

1.663

.721

Late & Close*

21

1.357

.675

Torres — at the age of 21 years and 163 days old — became the youngest Yankee with an extra-inning walk-off hit since Ben Chapman on April 25, 1930. And combined with his May 6 game-ending homer vs Cleveland, Torres also entered the record books as the youngest Yankee (since at least 1925) with multiple walk-off RBI in a single season.

(New York Post)

Welcome to the Sevy and Sanchez Show
Yankees continued their domination of the defending champs this season, taking another series against Houston after their 5-3 victory on Wednesday night. The Yankees are the only team to win multiple series against the Astros this season. Some other stats of note as the Yankees improved to…

MLB-best 14-4 in games started by left-handers

MLB-best 20-7 against teams with a .500 record or better

MLB-best 24-2 in games that their starter pitches at least six innings

MLB-best 24-1 when allowing fewer than four runs

Luis Severino showcased his ace stuff as he struck out 11 batters and held the Astros to two runs on four hits over seven innings. All 11 of the punchouts were swinging — a career-best for Sevy — and eight of the 11 came on his slider.

His masterful outing capped off a dominant month during which he struck out a total of 50 batters, whiffing 10-plus guys in three of six May starts. He is just fifth Yankee in the last 50 seasons with 50 or more strikeouts in a single calendar month. This list is pretty good, eh?

Gary Sanchez delivered the game-changing blow in the fifth inning, a bases-loaded two-run single that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. That hit snapped an 0-for-19 slump and was his first RBI since May 19. Sanchez has no fear when coming to plate with the bases juiced — he is now 11-for-22 (.500) with the bases loaded since the start of 2017, and has driven in 22 runs in those 22 at-bats.

At long last, the Yankees are whole on offense*. Greg Bird rejoined the Yankees today and he’ll make his season debut tonight. He had ankle surgery at the end of Spring Training and the recovery timetable put him on track to return in late May, and wouldn’t you know it, he’s actually back in late May. Hooray for that.

The Yankees have been woefully short on left-handed power this season — their lefty bats have 18 homers and a .386 SLG, which is pretty terrible — and Bird can help fix that. Even with all the injury problems, he’s hit 23 homers with a .480 SLG in 108 career big league games, postseason included. That’ll play. A blowout win would be nice today. Sock some dingers, let Tommy Kahnle shake off the rust in a low-leverage appearance, and get after it tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Here are the lineups:

It is warm, cloudy, and humid in New York today, and that usually means rain. Fortunately it’s not supposed to arrive until much later tonight. Shouldn’t interrupt the game at all. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:15pm ET and you can watch on FOX and FOX only. No YES broadcast tonight. Enjoy.

Roster Move:In case you missed it earlier, Ronald Torreyes was sent to Triple-A Scranton to clear a roster spot for Bird. That surprised me. Thought it would be Tyler Austin.

Injury Update: Jacoby Ellsbury remains shut down with his recent back issue. “Everything he’s had has been diagnosed legitimately by a doctor,” said Brian Cashman, which is a line he once used to defend Carl Pavano. Cashman said the Yankees expect Ellsbury back at this point this season.

As expected, the Yankees have activated first baseman Greg Bird off the 10-day disabled list, the team announced. Aaron Boone confirmed yesterday the plan was to activate Bird today. To make room on the roster, the Yankees optioned utility man Ronald Torreyes to Triple-A Scranton. That part is not so expected.

Optioning Torreyes does make sense given the roster. The Yankees have Gleyber Torres to back up Didi Gregorius at shortstop, and Neil Walker can play the three non-shortstop infield positions. They have coverage all over. Also, Tyler Austin has authored a .273/.340/.591 (147 wRC+) line against southpaws. He can spell Bird against tough lefties.

Torreyes is basically the perfect utility infielder. He gets the bat on the ball consistently and he’s capable defensively all over the diamond, and he doesn’t have to play regularly to stay sharp. We’ve seen Torreyes sit for a week, then come off the bench and get three hits. I’d rather have Torreyes on the bench than Austin, personally. (Or, you know, the Yankees could just do away with the barely used eighth reliever and keep both guys.)

That all said, this move has zero long-term consequences, and I imagine Torreyes will be the first guy called up when the Yankees suffer their inevitable next injury. Heck, he could be back after the minimum ten days if Austin doesn’t play much and his performance suffers. Not the move I would’ve made. Not a huge mistake either.

As for Bird, his next game will be his season debut after having ankle surgery in Spring Training. He’s missed an awful lot of time with injuries in recent years and we still don’t know what he can do with regular playing time. Is he the guy who hit .190/.288/.422 (86 wRC+) last year? Or the guy who hit .261/.343/.529 (137 wRC+) in 2015? Hopefully he stays healthy and we find out this year.

Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like it’s been an eternity since the Yankees were last at home. They just wrapped up an eight-game turned six and a half game road trip that included three scheduled off-days, a rainout, a suspended game, and two flight delays. I’m sure the guys are looking forward to spending the next few days sleeping in their own beds.

Anyway, the Angels are in town for three games this weekend. The Yankees dropped their last two games to the Rangers earlier this week and they are the only team in baseball without a losing streak of at least three games this season. This is like the no shutout streak badge of honor last year — the Yankees are also the only team that hasn’t been shutout this year, by the way — only more meaningful. Keep the “no three-game losing streak” streak alive. Here are the lineups:

Lovely day for baseball in the Bronx. Warm, mostly clear skies, nice breeze. Tonight’s series opener will begin at 7:05pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the ballgame.

Roster Moves: Welcome back, Tommy Kahnle. He has been activated off the disabled list, as expected. Ryan Bollinger was sent down following Wednesday’s game to clear a roster spot … The Yankees are planning to activate Greg Bird (ankle) tomorrow, Aaron Boone said. They have not yet decided who will go down to clear a roster spot. Boone also said they might’ve activated Bird today had the Angels been starting a right-hander.

Injury Update: Adam Warren (lat) has joined Triple-A Scranton and will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow. He’s going to throw two innings, reports Conor Foley. Would be cool if the Yankees got Warren back before the end of the homestand.

The first base position has not been a total disaster during Bird’s absence. Neil Walker has been really good this month while Tyler Austin has crushed lefties all season. Even after going 0-for-Hamels last night, Austin is hitting .293/.362/.634 (163 wRC+) against southpaws this year. He has been an objectively great platoon bat.

“Tyler’s put himself in a very good position,” said Aaron Boone to Erik Boland yesterday when asked whether there is room for both Austin and Bird on the roster. “He’s having a lot of success, having a big hand in us winning games. I definitely see a role, potentially, for both of them.”

Moving forward with a Bird/Austin platoon at first base sounds simple enough, though roster spots are a finite resource, and the Yankees may not be able to carry two first base only guys. And, as good as he’s been, sending Austin to Triple-A when Bird returns is the most logical move, for three reasons.

1. The Yankees aren’t scheduled to face many lefties. Pitching plans can always change, but right now, the Yankees are scheduled to face two lefties over their next 15 games. They’ll see Andrew Heaney this weekend and Dallas Keuchel next week, and then it’s a long run of right-handed pitchers. Again, pitching plans are tentative, but that’s how things are set up at the moment.

As good as Austin has been overall this season, he should not be in the lineup against right-handed pitchers. And especially not over Bird. Austin’s platoon splits are ridiculous:

vs. RHP: .200/.250/.467 (89 wRC+) with 4.7 BB% and 43.8 K%

vs. LHP: .293/.362/.634 (163 wRC+) with 8.5 BB% and 27.7 K%

Austin shouldn’t be in the lineup against righties. Not over Bird. And, with so many right-handed pitchers coming up, Austin is going to be glued to the bench. Yeah, I suppose he could be a pinch-hitter option against a lefty reliever, though those opportunities may be few and far between. Simply put, it doesn’t appear there will be many at-bats for Austin in the near future.

2. The Yankees are going to carry an eighth reliever. Like it or not. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. The Yankees will start a 14 games in 13 days stretch Friday — hey have the makeup doubleheader in Detroit coming up — and I would bet heavily on the Yankees carrying an eighth reliever during that stretch. They like having the eighth reliever. It’s been made clear.

Who will that eighth reliever be? It might be Jonathan Holder once Tommy Kahnle and Adam Warren return. The identity of the eighth reliever is irrelevant. As long as the eighth reliever is on the roster, there are only three players on the bench. Austin Romine and Ronald Torreyes will be two of them. The more versatile Neil Walker makes more sense for the final bench spot than another first baseman. Walker in MLB and Austin in Triple-A is better than Austin in MLB and Walker out of the organization.

3. The sooner he goes down, the sooner he can come back. By rule, players sent to the minors have to stay there at least ten days before being called back up, unless they’re replacing a player placed on the disabled list. So, the sooner the Yankees send Austin down, the sooner the clock starts and the sooner they’ll be able to bring him back as a platoon option should they run into a bunch of left-handers or something like that. Odds are Austin’s assignment to Triple-A would only be temporary.

* * *

It boils down to this: The Yankees have too many good players. It sounds silly and it is, but it’s absoluty true. Clint Frazier and Brandon Drury should be in the big leagues. So should Adam Lind. Holder has looked pretty good lately and deserves to stay in the big leagues, but might get pushed down when Kahnle and Warren return. The Yankees have an incredible amount of depth right now.

Austin doesn’t deserve to be demoted. He’s performed about as well as anyone could’ve possibly hoped so far this season. Given the roster though, carrying another full-time first baseman doesn’t make sense once Bird returns. The Yankees are going to carry an eighth reliever, which leaves them sort a bench player, and there aren’t many left-handed pitchers on the upcoming schedule. A righty platoon first baseman isn’t the best use of a roster spot.

These roster logjams always have a way of working themselves out. Bird has had plenty of trouble staying on the field lately — Austin himself as an injury history too — and it is entirely possible an injury elsewhere on the roster will create an opening. Given the current roster, it’s hard to see how both Bird and Austin fit, even with Boone saying there is potentially a role for both of them.

Tonight, the Yankees have a chance to accomplish two things. One they will accomplish for sure. They’ll get a firsthand look at lefty Cole Hamels, who figures to be a hot commodity at the trade deadline. The Yankees could use another starter and Hamels will likely be available. It’s only a matter of time until the two sides are mentioned in serious trade rumors.

The second thing the Yankees can accomplish tonight? Clinching a series win. It would be their ninth straight series victory, which is bananas. You have to go back to 1998 — the 2018 Yankees seem to be doing a lot of things last done by the 1998 Yankees, huh? — for the last time the Yankees won nine consecutive series. Just keep winning series, baby. Win series and everything will work itself out. Here are tonight’s lineups:

There is a tiny little bit of rain in the forecast tonight, though nothing heavy and nothing that should really interfere with the game, thankfully. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:05pm ET and YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Greg Bird (ankle) could return “sometime this weekend,” said Aaron Boone, though nothing is set in stone … Jordan Montgomery (elbow) will need a “little bit more time before he starts throwing,” according to Boone. Montgomery was placed on the disabled list on May 2nd and, at the time, the Yankees said he would be shut down 2-3 weeks. Sounds like he’ll be shut down a little longer than that … Adam Warren (lat) is already pitching in simulated games in Tampa. He could return to the Yankees as soon as late next week.